Acrylic advice needed for home studio flooring.

[wonderer]

Hi everyone

Having just moved home and needing to set up my home studio again I wanted to change the setup with the flooring. At the moment I do family, children and model shoots on a Muslin sheet which while fine for the background is a pain for the floor as it bunches up around the feet ( especially with two or 3 kids running Round ! )

I want to get a plastic clear flooring, firstly to add a nice reflection to the shots and also to be rid of the above problem and also it will keep the muslin clean.

I have found this stuff http://www.plasticsheetsdirect.co.uk/clear-acrylic-sheet/2mm-clear-acrylic-sheet-46.htmlwhich I would need in a 3 metre by 2 metre size for the floor and wanted to know anyone's thoughts on it?Do you think it would be suitable, especially in one piece at that size? Also would the 2mm thickness be ok or should I opt for thicker bearing in mind I shoot ( very energetic ) children 3-4 times a week who do love to jump up and down a lot. At what would be over £70 for the cheapest price I don't want it cracking on the first shoot. It would be laid over the muslin which in turn would be on a large firm rug/carpet.

Sorry to waffle on just wanted to know what people thought.

 

[Brendan Mulachy]

if you put that over carpet it will crack without a doubt,especially if you have kids runnibng or jumping about on it, might work better over laminate or wooden flooring with the muslin between it

 

[cymruchris]

Just open your finger and thumb to 2mm - and then imagine kids jumping up and down on it... It'd probably last about 20 seconds.. Even if acrylic is generally strong..

I'd have thought you'd need something more like 10mm or more.. From my limited experience of plastics, to be strong enough to take the flex of people bouncing around on it..

 

[mhuk]

Have a look at the type of white PVC plastic used for bathrooms/ kitchen/ hygiene areas. It's about £25+ for a 1220 x 2400mm sheet - google or ebay for "Hygienic Wall Cladding White"

 

[skd]

I would use 3mm Perpex/acrylic, as you will be very suprised how strong this stuff is (10x stronger than glass).

Perpex is designed for outdoor use for signs etc so takes some battering from wind/rain etc.

If any advice is needed on plastics feel free to PM me as I work for a leading plastics stockist